


Give The World a Shape

by Zee (orphan_account)



Category: Nation - Terry Pratchett
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-20
Updated: 2012-12-20
Packaged: 2017-11-21 19:26:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/601256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Zee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“It’s a diplomatic mission of sorts--not for the crown, but for the Royal Society, actually.  It’s The Nation. They’re trying to revoke their membership in the society and deny us access to the island.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Give The World a Shape

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Raven (singlecrow)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/singlecrow/gifts).



Daphne threw herself onto her bed, feeling dramatic and glum. She reminded herself that she only had six weeks left, but this didn’t make her feel any better because six weeks still felt like an eternity. Besides, six weeks would only mark the end of term, and after the fleeting winter holiday she would just have to come back for another term, and then another one after that, and again after that. It wasn’t six weeks left: it was a year and a half and six weeks. So much worse.

Her roommate, Katherine, appeared to be out; her roommate always seemed to be out, either studying in the library or gossiping in one of her friends’ rooms. Katherine had many friends, and Daphne knew that they gathered in groups of 3-5, even up to seven sometimes, in someone else’s tiny room. Daphne and Katherine’s room was much bigger, of course, being fit for a princess, but Katherine and her friends never did their socializing here. Daphne suspected that this was because they felt shy in the company of royalty, an affliction seemingly shared by all of the girls in Daphne’s new school. She tried not to take it personally.

Daphne had done so well at avoiding getting sent off to boarding school. By the time she turned sixteen, she’d thought for sure that she’d dodged that bullet for good. For years, her governess had argued with her father about it, but all her arguments (a young princess’s place was at school, rather than accompanying her father on diplomatic missions; she needed to be socialized with other young ladies of her class) had failed in the face of Daphne’s determination to support her father (in the process getting to stick her nose into all sorts of fascinating matters of the state, of course) and the king’s reliance upon his daughter’s ability to keep him reasonably humble and her perspective when it came to international relations. 

However, this last summer the governess played her trump card: they had reached the limits of any learning that she was able to impart, and if Daphne was serious about wanting to go into diplomacy, she would have to get more serious about her education and that meant school—a quality school, a disciplined and serious place that would house her and hide her away from all of the exciting parts of her life so that she had no choice but to focus on her education. Her father wanted Daphne to be able to pursue her every ambition, and so he relented. 

Now it was almost three months since she’d seen him last. And she had no friends. And all of her teachers and her dorm mistress insisted on calling her ‘Ermintrude.’   
Tonight' she had just returned from the library, where she'd been studying for a philosophy test. But she'd given up hours before she'd meant to-not because the material was too difficult, although it was challenging enough. She just couldn't bring herself to care about it, about any of it. Even her science classes didn't excite her very much. Being at school didn't feel like being home, but nor did it feel like an adventure; it was a dreadful combination of both new/unknown and dull.

She was picking at a loose thread in her sheets and getting settled into her self-pity session when one of her dorm mistresses knocked on her door. As per usual, the door was opened without waiting for a reply; it made Daphne wonder how Mrs. Gatesworth would react to walking in on the princess in her underthings. If she kept on barging in like this, it was bound to happen sooner or later.

“You have a visitor,” Mrs. Gatesworth said. She looked annoyed about it, probably because of the late hour--only the princess would possibly be allowed to have a visitor this late, even though curfew technically wasn’t for another hour. “He’s waiting for you in the headmistress’s sitting room, come along.”

Daphne followed her into the hall, her interest peaked. The few visitors that the headmistress entertained in her own sitting room were Very Important Indeed (and usually they were important because they were potential donors to the school). And Daphne wasn’t expecting anyone--she had no guesses as to who it might be. 

When she saw who was visiting her, it felt like her old, exciting life broke through the dreary clouds of boarding school like a ray of bright sunshine. It was her father’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Shawcross, and--

“Captain Samson!” Daphne couldn’t stop herself from crying out in delight and rushing forward to hug him. The captain made an ‘oof’ sound at her impact and readily hugged her back, though he looked a bit bewildered at how happy she was to see him. They’d gotten to be close on the voyage from the Nation back to England, but that had been three years ago, and she hadn’t seen him since. Daphne wanted to explain how good it was to not only see someone from home, but to see someone who also knew the island she still dreamed of so many nights, but she found that she didn’t quite have the words. So she just gave him an even tighter squeeze and then stepped back, shook herself and stood up and tried to look like royalty. 

“It’s good to see you, Mr. Shawcross,” she said, curtsying. He gave her a thin smile and a formal half-bow in return. “What can I do for yo?”

“These gentlemen want to take you out of school to attend to some state business,” the headmistress said, looking even more sour than usual. “I was just explaining to them that we are entering a crucial and difficult academic period, and any work you might miss in the upcoming weeks will be incredibly difficult to make up. She will likely have to repeat the year if she goes with you.”

Captain Samson clears his throat. “That’s why we’d be sending her on the fastest ship available, ma’am. She’d miss the absolute bare minimum number of school days.”

The headmistress arched a formidable eyebrow at him. “You want to take her to the other side of the world. I don’t care how fast your lovely ship is. She’d still miss too much to make it up this year.”

“Where is it you want to take me?” Daphne burst out, too curious to wait politely for the headmistress to finish arguing. She could hardly believe her luck: they’d come to take her away! 

“Ah,” said Mr. Shawcross. “It’s a diplomatic mission of sorts--not for the crown, but for the Royal Society, actually. It’s The Nation. They’re trying to revoke their membership in the society and deny us access to the island.”

“No, that can’t be right,” Daphne said. “Why would they...?”

“We don’t know. Well--we have some information, we know that there were some disagreements between the Royal Society and the island leadership before the split, but most of what we know is from the perspective of our scientists. I fear that we have an incomplete picture of what’s actually happening down there.”

“You mean you’ve only heard their side of the story,” Daphne said. “I’m sure that Mau has his reasons for shutting them out. They probably came on all snobby and beastly to him and the rest of the nation, serves them right for just thinking they could do whatever they wanted without showing any respect!”

“You have no idea who insulted whom just yet,” said Mr. Shawcross, looking down his nose at her. “And it doesn’t particularly matter. We need you to go down there and convince The Nation to re-join the Royal Society and open up their doors again.”

Daphne crossed her arms. “Well this is rather presumptuous of you. I trust that Mau knows what’s best for his people, and if he’s made up his mind then it’s not my place to change his mind--and I doubt I’d even be able to!”

_Shut up,_ snapped a voice in her headbefore she could climb any further onto her high horse. _They want to take you back to the island! Yes, there’s probably no changing Mau’s mind if he’s stopped trusting the Royal Society, but if you go along with this then they’ll take you away from here and you’ll get to see him again!_

“But I can certainly try,” Daphne said quickly. “When do we leave?”

“Thought you’d never ask,” Captain Samson said, grinning at her. But the headmistress stepped forward with a frown, not yet ready to surrender.

“Ermintrude, you must consider this carefully. I was quite serious when I said you’d have to repeat a year. You will have wasted your last two months here, and you’ll graduate a year behind all the other girls your age. Is that really what you want?”

The headmistress was looking at her like she knew perfectly well how much Daphne despised this place, and expected that the prospect of an additional year here would be enough to dissuade Daphne from the journey. If it were anyone but Mau and any place but The Nation, she’d probably be right.

“With all due respect, I’ll take the extra year,” Daphne said. “Give me just a moment and I’ll go pack my things.”

***

It wasn't until Daphne was on the train heading away from the school that her original rush of defensiveness of Mau died down and she began to process the night's news for herself. Truthfully, no matter what she'd told Shawcross, the thought of The Nation backing out of the Royal Society made her heart sink. When she'd left the island, she'd felt so sure that it was the best course of action, so sure that everything had worked out for the best. The Nation would prosper independently, scientists would flock to the caves, and the whole world would gain from the discoveries sure to be made there. It had broken Daphne's heart to leave, but she'd felt so optimistic at the same time.

And she'd thought Mau felt the same way. It wasn't supposed to happen like this, a few years of squabbling and then the deal falling apart before anyone could properly discover anything. She'd thought that Mau wanted to join the Society, wanted to show the trousermen what his ancestors had known. She couldn't help but feel a bit hurt to find that she'd been wrong; his rejection of the Society felt almost like he was rejecting her. This was silliness and Daphne knew it, but she couldn't shake the feeling.

She had meant it when she told Shawcross that it wasn't her place to change Mau's mind. She would support him if he thought that booting out the scientists was best for his people. But it was hard to give up hope for the plans they'd made three years ago, and she was still desperately attached to that vision.

***

The sea voyage took longer than anyone would have liked. Daphne spent a lot of her time cursing geography more passionately than she had since her first few months away from the island. She also had plenty of time to think about Mau and how long it had been since he’d seen her and wonder if he still thought about her the way she still thought about him, all the time. After all, it wasn’t as if Mau had spent the last few years with only ambassadors, governesses, or other teenagers of his own gender for company--he was the chief, he probably had all sorts of girls constantly chatting him up. 

Oh god, what if he was married? Was that even a possibility? Daphne tried to think if any of the married couples on the island had been so young, but she couldn’t quite remember, even though she could still remember almost every conversation she and Mau had ever had with perfect clarity. Three years seemed a horribly long time, but it also felt like no time at all. 

The more Daphne thought about such things, the more knots her stomach tied itself into, until she sought out whichever sailors were available for a game of cards. But then the thought cycle just started up again whenever she laid down to sleep at night. It made her want to pluck her own brain out of her skull and toss it overboard. 

The waiting was killing her. But then when they were finally dropping anchor outside the Nation’s bay, Daphne felt as if she weren’t ready at all. Just seeing the shoreline brought up so many feelings and memories that she found herself unable to speak. Captain Samson squeezed her shoulder and asked softly, “Is it good to see it again? I know how attached you got to this place.” Daphne could only nod.

Daphne went ashore along with Captain Samson, Shawcross, and a few other sailors. Mau was on the shore waiting for them, with Pilu, Milo and the Papervine Woman--Fihael, Daphne reminded herself--at his side. Mau was frowning at them, but when he saw Daphne get out of the boat, his frown disappeared and his face went completely expressionless.

“Chieftain Mau,” said Shawcross, bowing politely. 

Mau did not look away from Daphne. “You came back.”

“I did,” said Daphne. “And you got taller.” 

The corners of Mau’s lips twitched up into almost a smile, and royal decorum be damned: Daphne rushed towards him as Mau stepped forward and they embraced.

It felt a bit like being hugged by the sun (although possibly this was just because of her nerves). Mau’s skin was warm and bare and considering that he was almost a head taller than her by now, she felt completely enveloped in his arms. Daphne felt sure that her cheeks were turning bright red, but thankfully her face was buried in Mau’s shoulder so no one could see.

“Oh god, I missed you,” she said, her voice choked up.

“I know. Me, too,” Mau said.

Daphne pulled back a little to look him in the eye. “I mean, I have really, _really_ missed you,” she said, because he didn’t quite seem to be getting the drama of it all.

Mau grinned at her and Daphne felt dizzy. “Yes, I know. And I have really, really missed you also.”

Daphne grinned back. “Oh. Good, then. I mean--not good, but--”

“I know what you mean.” Mau took her hand and squeezed, and Daphne squeezed back as hard as she could. They turned together to listen to Shawcross explain why she was here, and Daphne felt absurdly pleased that Mau never let go of her hand.

***

Mau seemed annoyed when Shawcross explained why they had come, but Daphne hastened to explain that she was only there to aid in a discussion--no one was going to try and force the Nation back into the Royal Society. He relaxed somewhat then, but there was still a guardedness about him as he gave them a tour of the village (it had grown marvelously since Daphne had seen it last), a tour that Daphne noticed did not include the Grandfather's Cave. He also didn't mention the camp of European scientists, which Daphne could just barely make out beyond the village borders.

Daphne recognized that Mau was interacting with them as the Chief, and not as himself. She understood and didn't mind, but it made her anxious to talk to him alone. 

Of course, Shawcross was not particularly keen on letting the royal princess be alone with the head of a foreign island nation who wore no trousers. Daphne had to utilize several different logical arguments, give a dramatic summary of the strength of her bond of friendship with Mau, and came very close to stamping her foot in frustration before he finally relented. It was determined that they could be speak alone in Mau’s tent, but only with a pair of guards stationed outside. Milo thought that it was only fair for Mau to get guards if Daphne was getting guards, and so Daphne found herself sitting with Mau with a group of four men standing only a few feet away on the other side of a cloth wall.

“But I’m sure they won’t be listening in,” Daphne said sarcastically, and Mau snorted in agreement.

“I don’t trust the men you came with,” he said with a shrug. “And I don’t care if they hear me say that?”

Daphne swallowed. “Do you trust me?”

“Yes.” His answer was immediate, which was at least slightly reassuring. “I just don’t trust your people. I tried to--we all did. But they do not respect us, and they have brought nothing of use to our island. There is no reason for us to continue inviting them here.”

“But what about the telescope we gave you? And the boat and the books, and I know father sent doctors--”

“It doesn’t matter! None of that matters to us when your people demean us, when their lectures insult us, when they try to treat us like--I believe Pilo used the phrase ‘guinea pigs’?”

“Are you saying they’ve been trying to experiment on you?” Daphne said, going pale.

Mau had been pacing back and forth in the tent and scowling at the ground. Now he stopped and looked at Daphne, his mouth twisting before he answered. “Things started well. We heard many good lectures from the first scientists that came, and they seemed excited about what they could find in the cave.

"But then some of them began to behave disrespectfully. A few devoted their time here to proving that my ancestors were given tools and knowledge by trouserm--by western societies."

"Good luck on that," said Daphne, rolling her eyes. "I've been reading every published study about this island, and so far there's absolutely no evidence to suggest that."

"Yes. Those studies made us angry, but we knew that the truth would come out. Or that is what we thought, before he came. Francis Galton. He claims to be a cousin of Darwin and the first thing he did when he got here was give a lecture on how our society would be so much better if we sent our children off to marry trousermen and have trousermen children in order to make our children's children have whiter skin. Because the whiter our skin, the more like trousermen we are, the better we'll be!"

Mau stopped, getting red in the face. He was glaring at Daphne like he was daring her to agree with Galton.

Daphne sighed. "That sounds like something an Englishman would say, unfortunately. I wasn't aware that the Society endorsed such dreck, though."

"That's not the worst of it. Without asking me or any of the members of the council, he started enlisting people in his experiments. Except he didn't tell us that they were experiments. He would tell people that he just wanted to ask some questions, to better understand our people. This was a lie--or at least, it was not the entire truth. He was asking questions that were difficult to answer, things most of our people would have no way of knowing. When I found out and confronted him about it, he admitted that these tests were part of a system he has come up with to test our worth, especially our intelligence. He told me that the work he is doing on this island could greatly aid his study of ‘heredity’ and the improvement of the race. He is writing a book about how a society can improve itself by discouraging people with undesirable qualities, as measured by him, from having children, while encouraging those with desirable qualities to have children with each other, and thus advance the race as a whole.”

Mau laughed, not a happy sound. “Now, what do you imagine he meant by this? Do you think he meant that trousermen should invite us into their homes in order to pass down our many gifts to trousermen children? Or do you think he means that everything we are is an undesirable quality, and that the surest way to improve our society is to make sure that our children have lighter skin than we do?”

Daphne was quiet, looking down at the ground. After a few moments Mau came to sit down next to her, their knees touching. 

“I’m very sorry,” she said eventually. “His ideas sound awful.”

Mau sighed and rubbed his forward, looking much older than he actually was. “If he wants to spread his insulting ideas around the world, I can’t stop him. But I will not let him enlist our nation in his experiments, I will not let him use us as evidence for his delusions.”

“I don’t blame you,” Daphne said. “But the rest of the Society--”

“If this is what the Royal Society wants to use us for, then I don’t want them on this island. I’m sorry, Daphne--I know that it’s important to you that the world gets to see what our ancestors did. But I have to do right by my people.”

“And I’d never ask you to do otherwise! Believe me, I want what’s best for them, too. But I just...” Daphne felt miserable. How could she argue in favor of the Royal Society after what Mau had just told her? 

“I think that our scientists have the potential to be better,” she said, carefully. “In fact, my entire country needs to be better, we can’t just keep trying to conquer everyone forever. I think my father is figuring that out, and his ministers don’t like it but they’re coming around to his side. It’s slow, but things are changing in our government. It’s not enough--our scientists need to change, too, especially after what you’ve told me about Galton. And I think that The Nation is a crucial part of that change.”

“Perhaps,” Mau said. “But how do you know that your scientists won’t change for the worse?”

Daphne groaned. “I don’t! I don’t know, maybe you and I were just being naive when we came up with this whole plan. Maybe it’s not possible that any sort of dealings between your people and mine could lead to good things for the Nation. I feel awful about it, I really do.”

Mau reached out and touched Daphne’s shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “This is not your fault, and you don’t have to fix everything right now. Yes, things have been difficult for me here, but seeing you again--it’s good,” he said, sounding a bit awkward at the end. But he didn’t take his hand off her shoulder, and Daphne smiled at him, grateful.

“I feel so much better being here than I did back home,” she admitted. “Have I told you that they’ve forced me to go off to a horrible school? I have no friends and all my teachers are so serious and they’re very strict about everyone behaving like a lady all the time. Actually--oh, do you know what I would absolutely love to do while I’m here?”

“What?”

Daphne grinned. “I’d love to make beer! Great big batches of it, to see if I’ve still got the touch!”

“We can make that happen.” Mau smiled back at her, a bit sly. “And what about your other skills? We have some very pregnant women right now, if you’re lucky you’ll get to deliver a baby again.” Daphne groaned while Mau laughed. “And you could chop off a few legs for old times’ sake, too!”

“Or you could die and I could travel into the in-between place to rescue you,” Daphne shot back. “Or hmm, you could get your other ear shot off if we’re getting really nostalgic!” 

They were both laughing now--actually, Daphne was making noises much closer to girlish giggles, and if she could hear herself she would have been mortified. But she wasn't very self-aware at the moment; all her attention was absorbed by Mau, by the giddy, overwhelming joy she felt remembering old times with him. It felt as if he were reminding her that these adventures really had happened-like he was telling her that she was not just Princess Er,mintrude, who had to study for philosophy exams and be perfectly polite and presentable 100% of the time. She was also Mau's friend Daphne, the ghost girl, who'd run from Death and discovered old gods and performed a few emergency amputations. Mau made her remember that she had proved herself to be capable and competent on the other side of the world from her family and everything that made life easy and dull, and the feeling was a bit of a rush.

Without thinking about it, Daphne pushed herself forward and kissed him on the lips. It didn't last long before they pulled back, both shocked. Except that the strange thing was that it didn't feel shocking at all, it felt comfortable (as comfortable as two teenagers each experiencing their first kiss can possibly feel). There were voices in Daphne's head yelling that she shouldn't be doing this-ladies couldn't be so bold!--but they were hardly convincing compared to Mau's eyes, so wide that she could see the whites around his pupils, and his lips, which had been warm and a little bit wet against her own. 

Daphne leaned in again. This time there was more pressure, and Mau wrapped his arms around her waist, and she felt the kind of tingling sensations described in the romances that her father hated her reading. So this was what kissing was like--this was what kissing _Mau_ was like. Daphne liked it more and more with each passing second.

There came a polite cough from outside, and what sounded like someone trying to knock on the cloth wall of a tent. "Your highness? How go the, er, negotiations?" 

“Well!” Daphne squeaked. “I mean, they’re going well!” Mau muffled his laughter against her shoulder. 

“Excellent! That is so good to hear. But I do think that we should be finishing up for the night, as it looks like the villagers have begun their feast preparations for us.”

“We’ll be right out,” Daphne said. She was tempted to instruct the guards to just go down to the feast and wait for them, but that request probably would not go over well. She sighed and turned back to Mau. “I would be perfectly fine with skipping the feast and staying here with you. You’d think that being a princess meat that you could skip any feast you liked, but sadly I’ve found the opposite is true.”

“It’s true for the Nation’s chief, too,” Mau said, cupping her cheek. He kissed her again, soft and warm. Daphne shivered and closed her eyes. She was back. She’d managed to return to him and to their island, and now that she was damn well never going to leave again, ever.

This thought was not true, of course. And Daphne knew it. But it felt so good to think it that she turned the words over and over in her mind, repeating them like a mantra: _I am not leaving I am not leaving I am not leaving I am not_

***

The feast was still going strong by the time the moon had risen and the stars were up in the sky. Captain Samson was being climbed on by small children and Shawcross, after several glasses of beer (it was not as good as the beer Daphne used to brew, Mau assured her, but Shawcross still took quite a liking to it), was telling Pilo about his latest visit to the Turkish embassy. It seemed to be a very long story, with lots of details and different accents used for different characters. When Mau and Daphne carefully removed themselves from the celebration, no one noticed.

They walked to the cliff overlooking the rest of the island--the place where they’d said goodbye, Daphne couldn’t help but wonder. She knew that Mau was thinking of that day, too. He took her hand while they walked, and when they reached the cliff, they laid down in the grass facing each other. 

“There are so many people here,” Daphne said. For the past three years, whenever she’d imagined the island, usually it had been the way it was at the very end, but sometimes she dreamt about the way it had been at the very beginning: just her and Mau.

Mau nodded. “We’re growing so fast. There are many people here now who I have never met, and...” He grinned at her, his teeth flashing white in the dark. “You should see Guiding Star. He’s tall and fat now, and will climb anything that goes up high.”

“An explorer! Oh, no. I expect that he makes life plenty difficult for Cahle.”

“Yes, and she blames your bad influence. She says you ruined him from the moment of his birth.”

“I don’t believe you.” Their hands were still tangled together, and Daphne used his own hand to shove at his shoulder to berate him. It didn’t work; Mau used her hand to pull her closer, into a kiss. 

This time there was a lot more touching involved. No one’s clothes were removed, because Daphne didn’t even know enough about sex to realize that nudity was an option, and Mau was a gentleman. But her fingertips traveled over his neck, his shoulderblades, his back and his legs. Mau mirrored her own movements, touching her wherever she was touching him, and it made her shiver. 

“I don’t want to go back down there,” Mau said, his breath tickling her ear, and Daphne said, “I don’t see why we have to,” and so they stayed like that, lying beside each other on the grass with the stars overhead, for quite a long time.

***

The trouble with Sir Francis Galton, as Daphne discovered the next day when she want to go talk to him, was that he wasn’t entirely a bad sort. His theories were just as awful and immoral as Mau had said, but Daphne had predicted that he would be the worst kind of conceited, condescending git; but instead he seemed taken aback about the mess that his research had caused, and genuinely apologetic about insulting Mau and his people.

The trouble was that he simply did not understand why the Nation had taken offense at his theories. “I was only trying to help them!” he said sorrowfully. “No one has studied or written about this society before--we know nothing about them! I wanted to measure their strengths and weaknesses, as the first step in helping them be more civilized.”

“Yes, but I think the problem--I think that the Nation was so offended because your theories all start from the assumption that they are inferior to us,” Daphne pointed out.

“Well, of course, they _are_ inferior,” Galton said, blinking at her in confusion. “But they don’t have to be! All races are capable of improvement, you just have to be selective about who is allowed to procreate!”

“Mmm,” Daphne said, trying to remember her father’s words of advice about diplomacy--specifically, how good diplomats knew when not to speak their minds. “I definitely, um.... see your point. That sounds perfectly reasonable.”

As awkward as her visit with Galton was, she did learn that he had yet to visit the Grandfathers’ Cave: there had been so many scientists clamoring to visit the cave that Mau had implemented a strict system which only allowed some scientists access at a time; Galton had arrived at the island long before his turn, and then Mau made the decision to leave the Royal Society before Galton had a chance to go inside. Daphne felt that this pointed to a clear solution to their problem. She wanted to let Galton go into the cave and see for himself that all his theories about the superiority of some races over others were full of holes, but Mau wouldn’t hear of it.

“Look, the evidence in that cave completely contradicts his ideas about racial superiority,” Daphne said. “If Europeans are inherently smarter and more advanced than your people, then how were they traveling the world and building telescopes before we were? It doesn’t hold up and he’s bound to see that.”

Mau shook his head. They were back on the cliff, with Shawcross and a few guards sitting a polite distance away. “You are making the mistake of thinking that his theories are based on logic. They are not--they come from the way he sees the world. If I let him examine the Grandfathers’ Cave, he will find an explanation for those artifacts that fits with his theories. He’ll see what he wants to see, he’s not just going to admit to being wrong!”

“That’s awfully cynical,” Daphne said. “I know he’s been saying some awful things, but he’s still a scientist. His profession demands the objective observation of facts, and hypotheses require proof before they can be accepted as true. He will have to change his mind when he sees what’s in there, he’ll just have to.”

“Let’s say I give him access, and he comes out and declares that he can somehow prove that your people taught my ancestors everything they knew? He’d be wrong, but I will still have given him further evidence to support his lies.” Mau viciously pulled up a tuft of grass, throwing it over the edge of the cliff as if he was hoping to hit Galton in the face with it. “I’m not letting that happen.”

“But do you really want to send the Royal Society away forever? You’d be letting Galton take that from you, and I know how much you wanted their partnership.” Daphne put a hand on Mau’s forearm and he sighed, the anger slumping out of his shoulders. Then he straightened up abruptly, an idea lighting up his face.

“I’ve told you that there is a long list of scientists and explorers waiting to come here. If we told them that they were denied access to this island forever because of Galton, would they be very angry with him?”

Daphne frowned. “Yes, but--”

“Then we can threaten him! Tell him to change his theories or we’ll tell the whole world that he is responsible for their lack of access!” Mau smiled, looking more than a little predatory. “You’ve told me that a man’s reputation is very important among scientists. This would do a lot of harm to his reputation, yes?”

“But that’s blackmail!” Daphne said, dismayed. “You can’t blackmail someone into changing their theory, it violates the very soul of what science is meant to be!”

“So do Galton’s theories,” Mau said with a shrug. “He’s a lot more likely to listen to threats than he is to evidence that suggests he’s wrong.”

“Absolutely not,” Daphne said. “We must find another way!”

***

Sir Francis Galton drew himself up to his full height and looked down his nose at Daphne with all the offended righteousness he could muster. “Are you trying to blackmail me, child?”

“The correct title is ‘your Highness,’” Daphne said. “And no, not precisely. It’s like this: Mau is willing to give you access to the cave, to examine the archaeological evidence his ancestors left behind. But in return, you must keep a _very_ open mind. You must go into those caves with the acceptance that they will likely give you proof that your ideas about racial superiority are wrong.”

“You’re asking me to be biased against my own ideas!”

“Yes! That’s where the blackmail comes in,” Daphne said, and couldn’t stop herself from smiling a little bit maniacally, even if she still felt a bit guilty about this part. “If you don’t promise to go into those caves predisposed to accept proof that your theories are wrong, we’ll make sure that every scientist on the continent knows that it’s your fault that these caves are now off-limits. Good luck getting anyone to publish you after such news.”

“This is outrageous,” he said, starting to turn purple. 

“You should note that the ultimate results of your exploration of the cave is up to you. If you examine all the evidence and decide that it does _not_ contradict your eugenics theory, we won’t punish you. This arrangement depends on you having integrity, Sir Galton,” Daphne said, her smile disappearing. “There’s no way for us to ensure that you are going into those caves with an open mind. All we would have is your word. As the resident representative of the English crown, I am asking you to be honest about your ability to accept evidence that contradicts your notion of European supremacy.”

Galton remained quiet, staring at her. Daphne met his eyes, hoping that she was projecting calm and confidence. 

“Very well,” Galton said at last. “You have my word.”

***

Galton went into the cave with a team of three scientists to assist him with data collection. Two of the three had already seen the cave and were working on articles that argued in favor of the theory that Mau’s ancestors had been an advanced civilization. Galton had chosen the team himself, which Daphne thought was a good sign.

“This could still backfire,” Mau said, eyeing the four scientists scurrying around their equipment in front of the mouth of the cave. 

“It could. But I have a good feeling about this. I think he’s taking his promise seriously,” Daphne said. She gave his hand a squeeze, then let go when Galton stepped up to them.

He bowed his head in Mau’s direction. “Thank you for this opportunity. I recognize that you are being very gracious in allowing me access to these artifacts, and I truly appreciate your hospitality. I will do my best not to disappoint you.”

From the respectful tone of his voice, you would never have guessed that this was the same person who’d told Daphne that he was convinced Mau’s people were inferior. Daphne wasn’t sure whether this was a good or bad sign. Perhaps Galton was just an exceptionally talented actor and his good will was just an empty show.

Mau nodded his thanks. “I take you at your word. Thank you for your open mind.”

“We are very appreciative of your cooperation, and we trust that you will represent your country well,” Daphne said, hoping that Galton would pick up on the royal ‘we.’ 

Galton smiled at her. “That is certainly what I aim to do, your Highness. I promise you that.”

They watched Galton and his team walk into the cave, and Daphne let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. 

“Well, I suppose that’s that.” She turned to Mau, her stomach full of fretting butterflies. “Do you think this will work? Do you think he’ll actually change his old theories?”

Mau was still looking at the entrance to the cave, his face unreadable. Then he turned to Daphne, smiling. “I think so. I think he might get his world turned upside down.”

Daphne threw her arms around Mau and kissing him, forgetting that she was scandalizing Shawcross, who was standing only a few yards away. Milo, Cahle and Pilo were next to him however, and their laughs and whoops covered up his sputtering.

***

Mau and Daphne were sitting on a rock on the beach, trading sips from a cup of the beer Daphne had just made. This was the first time Daphne had actually tasted her beer, and she had always thought that she wouldn’t like it, but to her surprise she found that it rather agreed with her. It was very strong, though, and each sip made her brain swim briefly around her skull.

“We’ve had some initial reports from Galton and his team,” Mau said. “He is shocked by their findings but intrigued; apparently he has been heard muttering to himself things like ‘this changes everything.’”

“That sounds like good news,” Daphne said. Her cheeks felt quite warm, but the beer was lovely and cold, and the sun was setting, so it wasn’t too hot out. This was how she wanted to remember the Nation, she thought.

“Yes, I think so,” Mau said. “Will your ship leave as soon as I agree to re-join the Royal Society?”

Daphne looked down at the ground, digging her toes into the sand. “I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe I can stay here forever, set up an embassy.” This was not a real possibility, but she pretended to herself that it was, that the time stretched out endlessly before them.

Mau didn’t say anything to contradict her. Instead he put his arm around her, his fingers rubbing at her shoulder, and Daphne leaned her weight against him. The last orange slivers of the sun finally disappeared under the horizon; the stars would come out soon, and they would look up at them together.


End file.
